Watchers and Gravediggers
by The Light-Hearted Fool
Summary: You know, some say there's an old hag, named Soap Sally, who captures children that stay out late at night and punish them by turning the fat in their bodies to soap..." Kid!Sheik stays out late with a friend, to see what there is in the night.


**Title:** Watchers and Gravediggers  
**Author:** The Jester  
**Rating:**PG  
**Warning:** Involves a mildly Alternate Universe, not an author too stupid to know what _everyone_ in the fandom knows.

**Disclaimer**: The rights to Legend of Zelda belong to Nintendo, of which the author and editor of this piece of fan fiction are not a part. This piece has not been written for profit, neither is it in circulation for profit.

**Notes:** This was inspired by translating the Japanese website for Ocarina of Time, looking for information on Sheik. Near as I can tell, "Seek" and "Seekers" were used for "Sheik" and "Sheikah." I like words, so I wrote this.

**Additional Notes:** I am aware that Sheik and Zelda are the same person in canon. Even if I _hadn't_ beaten the game, I'd _still_ know, because it's ten years old. Any reviews about Sheik being Zelda will be banished to Siberia.

* * *

Kakariko wasn't _that_ small of a village – there were smaller, dotted along the river throughout Hyrule Field. Kakariko _was_, however, an older town. That is to say, there were more older people than there were younger people. The only person close to Sheik's age was Devin, who was two years younger than Sheik. Sheik didn't mind spending most of his time alone, but Devin wasn't a bad alternative to solitude. Even if he talked a lot, once he was decently acquainted.

Sheik was lucky that Devin wasn't a child inclined to silly games of tag, or hide-and-seek. Devin liked ghost stories, graveyards, and pretending to summon spirits. Some of the stories were childish, but Devin's mother (who Sheik was told to call "Auntie Nora") indulged Devin's tastes with a book, every now and then. Since Sheik read better than Devin did, he was often able to read them for Devin.

Some of the stories were absolutely _dreadful_ (in the completely appropriate way, of course). Sheik liked reading about _Godfather Death_, while Devin liked the _Tale of the Missing Liver_. It was the glut of such ghastly stories that facilitated that day's activity. It was cold and the sky was threatening rain, so Devin and Sheik decided it was the perfect day to stay out until dark.

As they waited for the sun to set, Devin was swearing up and down that Soap Sally was real. She was, according to Devin (and his source of "my mom said"), an old hag of a woman who snatched misbehaving children up in the night, and made their fat into soap. Sheik pointed out that, if Devin believed that, then he ought to go back home – because Soap Sally would get him if he stayed out late.

Devin's only response was to tell Sheik to shut his head.

Sheik did so, only because the conversation had no other venue. He didn't need to tease and taunt Devin endlessly. Instead, Sheik climbed to the top of the old stone monument near the graveyard's entrance. He had a decent viewpoint from the top of it. If any beasties like Soap Sally appeared, they'd carry lanterns like any other specter. From his vantage point, Sheik was sure he could see any eerie light.

Down one of the paths, Devin bounced about, looking smaller than he was in the oversized sweater he was wearing. The collar stuck up over his face, covering everything up until the tip of his pink nose. Sheik's gray-and-purple scarf was pulled up over his nose, by contrast, because Sheik felt warmer when it didn't feel like he was breathing the cold in. He preferred the scarf over a heavy sweater like Devin's, as well, because he still had decent mobility. Sheik didn't like feeling hindered by cumbersome clothing.

The gravedigger wasn't about, yet. He rarely ventured outside in the daytime, opting, as far as Sheik could guess, to work nights. Sheik wasn't fool enough to think that _nothing_ lurked in the graveyard at night. It was probably more productive for Dampé to spend most of his time working when those creatures were about.

"Hey, Sheik?"

Sheik looked down at Devin, who was examining just one of the many headstones, "Hm?"

"I just noticed that your name is just like… a short version of 'Sheikah.'"

"…sort of."

"Isn't that like someone naming me Hylia, because I'm a Hylian?"

"I… don't think so. 'Sheik' and 'Sheikah' are two forms of the same word. It's… like how some people are named 'Carver,' or 'Smith.'"

"So… what's it mean, then?"

"'Sheik' means 'watcher.' 'Sheikah' just means _'watchers,'_ plural."

Devin's eyes lit up with a realization, "Oh! And that's why that eye is everywhere, right?"

"The All-Seeing Eye, yes."

"That's really neat."

Sheik nodded, but said nothing. Instead, he looked up towards the gray sky. It was getting darker, but, since the clouds had completely obscured the sky, it was hard to tell how late it was. Night couldn't have been that far away.

"Hey, are you going to be a servant?"

Sheik looked back down at Devin, "What?"

"A servant. You know, for the royal family. All the Sheikah headstones say that they were loyal servants…"

"I don't know," Sheik admitted with a frown. "I don't really want to be, I think."

"What _do_ you want to be?"

"I don't know," Sheik answered with a sigh.

"Well," Devin said brightly, "I know what _I_ want to be!"

The exuberance distracted Sheik from Devin's earlier question, and he looked down at the younger boy, "What's that, Devin?"

"I want to be a gravedigger, like Dampé! Wouldn't that be awesome?"

"I guess so. Wouldn't it be upsetting, sometimes?"

"No. Why would it be?"

"People have to die for you to dig graves."

Devin furrowed his brow at that, thoughtfully, and then he looked up again. "They'd have to die anyway, though. People can't live forever. It'd get boring."

Sheik nodded at that. It was true enough. It was maybe a bit profound for the younger boy, but simple enough for anyone to grasp.

Time moved along slowly for the rest of the afternoon. They walked around, looking at headstones (Sheik was getting cold, just standing still for so long), and Devin talked about how the one wealthy family in town was cursed. Sheik didn't know if they were or not – no one really saw them, ever, or talked to them. But Devin said that his mom told him that they weren't a nice family, so they were cursed.

It sounded like another "just behave" story that parents told their children, to Sheik.

Neither of them realized how late it was until they looked around to see the thick darkness. Monsters and dead'uns or not, they had to start walking back. Staying out late didn't seem like such a good idea when it was actually late. Nana was probably worried, and they were both probably in trouble.

The graveyard seemed bigger in the dark, and every sound was no less than thrice as sinister. Sheik could feel Devin holding tightly onto the end of the scarf thrown over Sheik's shoulder. While it made Sheik a little jumpy, he did think it was a decent idea on Devin's part. If there was anything in the dark, then they shouldn't get separated. It'd be worse, that way.

Off somewhere to his left, Sheik heard a faint sort of laugh, and jumped. Behind him, Devin squeaked. Suddenly, stories about old hags like Soap Sally didn't seem so silly. Sheik pulled at Devin, urging him to pick up the pace. There was no good idea about being in the graveyard at night. Not with eerie laughs floating around in the dark.

Devin stumbled, and, even if he wasn't going to fall over by himself, he did because Sheik fell backward – tugged down by Devin's grip on his scarf. The two scrambled up and looked around wildly, but they saw nothing. With a redoubled pace, they all but ran to the ever-closer entrance.

Unfortunately, Sheik was too often looking over his shoulder, and almost ran into the poe that materialized before them, casting a sallow yellow light over the area with its eerie lantern. It had that same wispy laugh that still sounded far away. The two boys stared frozen at the hovering creature; it stared back with its glowing eyes.

Sheik understood, then, why some stories said peoples' knees knocked together. With the way his legs were shaking, he was, detachedly, surprised his knees weren't clattering together.

The poe bobbed around, making those unpleasantly sinister – _gleefully_ sinister – sounds. Sheik stared, transfixed, as the specter swung it's lantern about. And then, before either Sheik or Devin could fully understand what was going on, there was a loud clang, and the poe was squealing and retreating quickly.

They looked up to see the strange man in brown burlap, Dampé, holding a large shovel as if it were a weapon. He looked down at the boys with surprisingly keen eyes and a bemused expression.

"You boys shouldn't be out here, this late."

Sheik nodded dumbly, and Devin squeaked behind him, tugging tighter on the scarf. It was at that point that Sheik realized the cloth had been pulled away from his face, almost entirely. He discreetly tried to pull some of the cloth away from Devin, to no avail.

"Come on, then. I'll make sure you get out all right."

The two didn't hesitate to follow the large man. Anyone who saved them from that creature was worthy of their trust. In moments, the two boys were standing outside the archway of the graveyard, where two torches burned with a merry shade of orange.

"Thank you, sir," Sheik said, nodding his head in respect.

"Who am I to let two boys get attacked?" Dampé replied. "Just don't get it in your heads to play out here, this late. People don't tell spook stories for no reason."

The two nodded, and Dampé made his way back into the graveyard, as if it weren't filled with unpleasant things. Neither boy moved to go back to the village immediately. They simply watched the gravedigger retreat into the shadows.

When he was out of sight, Devin regained his voice. "I want to be just like Dampé!" he exclaimed, exuberantly.

Sheik began walking back down the hill, "You said that before."

"Did you see it? He just smacked it – WHAM! –" Devin clapped his hands together, "—as if it was a fly! It was _awesome_!"

Sheik grinned, despite himself, "How could you see it? You were hiding behind me."

"Was not!"

"You were. What, did you think it was Soap Sally, come to get you?"

Devin just told him to shut his head.


End file.
